Former The Works MD Julie Dormand launches The Culture Creator to help transform workplace culture and employee experience
Julie Dormand, advertising and marketing leader and former managing director of The Works, has announced the launch of her new venture ‘Dormand – The Culture Creator’, a consultancy dedicated to transform workplace culture by enhancing employee experience that drives business growth.
Dormand – The Culture Creator comes as businesses increasingly recognise that continued prosperity depends on engaged and empowered teams, and Commonwealth work health and safety laws mean employers must identify and manage risks to workers’ psychological health.
A 2024 Mentally Healthy Survey of more than 2,000 advertising workers in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand found 70% of workers within the marketing, creative and media industry identify as having experienced burnout within the last 12 months. While Gallup estimates that US$8.9 trillion or 9% of global GDP is lost due to low employee engagement.
Says Dormand: “In a time where businesses are obsessed with productivity, leaders often forget to pay enough attention to the key element in achieving that – its people. The workplace is evolving, and so must the way we approach employee experience. Organisational culture isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’, it’s an essential pillar for long-term business growth. Creating a culture where people feel valued, empowered and are invested in doesn’t just improve retention, it drives performance.
“The success of any organisation is deeply rooted in the mental and emotional well-being of its people. Leaders must embrace the responsibility to shape environments that support this, especially as psychological safety laws spotlight our industry.”
With decades of agency experience, Dormand has established herself as one of Australia’s most successful leaders. Dormand initially joined The Works in November 2018. During her tenure the agency achieved a 93 staff net promoter score, was named as the fourth Best Place to Work in Australia at the WRK+ Awards and won several agency of the year awards for culture. Prior to The Works, Dormand spent 19 years at MercerBell, rising from account director to become CEO.
Dormand added: “I’ve witnessed firsthand the positive impact a strong culture can have on morale, creativity and ultimately, the bottom line. It’s time for businesses to see culture-building as a powerful tool they can’t afford to overlook.”
The Culture Creator is already working with a number of clients including The Loyalty Experts, Ellipsis and Co, Aotearoa New Zealand’s Comms Council and surf brand URBNSurf. It will offer tailored services such as culture diagnostics and employee experience mapping, employee engagement strategies, management training, coaching and mentoring, brand promise and employee value proposition development, internal communication and recognition programs, and change management consulting.
David Parson, CEO at Ellipsis said: “Dormand helped us formulate our vision, purpose and the Ellipsis employee value proposition, including the package of benefits in alignment with this. This then became an on-going engagement, assessing team motivations and helping us enhance our career development frameworks and people operations. Dormand has been instrumental in creating a material lift in both company performance and culture. As a result of this high quality support and advice, we have the people and culture foundations to accelerate our business growth.”
Dormand has also represented key industry body Advertising Council Australia (ACA), in the creation of the recently launched Psychosocial Safety Code of Conduct, which was launched in conjunction with Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) and Media Federation of Australia (MFA) and has been designed to create safer worker environments for employees across the marketing industry.
She added: “At 52, with workplace ageism being rife, I wanted to be an example to others that you can still have a successful career and business whatever your age and stage of life. With AI changing the way we work, and employees wellbeing declining businesses must invest in developing their people and culture as a cornerstone of continued productivity.”
Beyond The Culture Creator, Dormand is the founder of The Friday Lunch Club, a fast-growing networking community for senior executives and founders, and mentors industry leaders through The Marketing Academy and Mentor Walks. She is also an advocate for progressive change on issues such as workplace menopause and leadership dynamics.
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